[Feedback] Wuk Lamat's English Voice

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Originally Posted by LittleArrow

The main issues I've seen is the sheer overwhelming presence the character has in the story that dwarfs any involvement I've seen of any character in the history of this game, though there's only evidence for this in comparison to Stormblood. The writing was so below the standard of what I'm used to in this series, which is a massive contributing factor to my dislike of the character.

In other words, I don't think it matters who voiced Wuk Lamat, she's an awful character due to bad writing and constant unwanted presence.

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Yeah, I agree. The English voice acting is weak, but it's not the main issue.
I started out finding her alright, back when things were lighthearted and no range was needed, but her constant presence became a strain over time, and once scenes required more serious negative emotions shown, it really didn't work. So after seeing all the advice online, I tried switching to Japanese for the first time in a long time, after always preferring the English voices before, and initially it made a big difference for not only her but several other new characters besides, especially the opponents. I thought things could be less painful now, maybe.
But it didn't last long; the writing is still what it is, and I still desperately wanted her to leave the longer the main quest went on.

The English V/a being trans isn't an issue. The English V/a being terrible is.

Even trans people can be shit at stuff.

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Originally Posted by Sayo_

Yeah that's a little silly. It makes you wonder where his accent came from. But that's more of a weird lore thing, not a "this voice actor is doing a poor job" thing. Erenville's voice is good.

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I can only assume Erenville's backstory didn't really exist in 6.0 beyond "here's a bun boy that lives in Sharlayan, because we need a prominent NPC from the new race option", and once Square-Enix saw people really liked Erenville they tied him to the Tural storyline in the patches.

Hearing Wuk yell out

SPHEEEEEEENE!

in the third trial made me laugh with how bad it was. It was like hearing Marge from the Simpsons trying to yell with a monotone voice. That entire scene exposes how limited her ability is as an actor especially when this problem doesn't exist for most the cast even disregarding the superb performance from other languages.

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Originally Posted by Kaecilius

I can only assume Erenville's backstory didn't really exist in 6.0 beyond "here's a bun boy that lives in Sharlayan, because we need a prominent NPC from the new race option", and once Square-Enix saw people really liked Erenville they tied him to the Tural storyline in the patches.

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Which is actually kind of dumb, Cause he could easily still have been a Othard Viera who comes with us to Tural because he's been there multiple times as his job as a Gleaner, The accent thing is putting me in the mind that CBU3 no longer cares as much that their lore make sense and changes can be made on the fly to do whatever they want or need.

According to Luis Bermudez, the voice actor for Koana, Sena and Kate are the 'beating heart of dawntrail'. Sure sounds like nepotism to me. Hire a bunch of your NA discord buddies to take a bunch of English speaking roles and have them pat each other on the back and claim that anyone who doesn't like the performance is just a hater or a transphobe. With that God awful performance though, I doubt Sena will get any more work unless it's more nepo-hires.

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Originally Posted by Avoidy

There was so much criticism over this, but when I played through 6.55 the thing I actually minded least was the voice acting. It was a bit awkward, but it feels like the kind of awkwardness that would be fixed by just... playing the role more. It sort of reminded me of how in Final Fantasy 10, the voice actors (VA) are really really scuffed at the start, but you can kind of tell by the end of the first act or whenever it is that Auron gets introduced, that lots of the VAs are getting into their roles and finding their footing. Out of all the things I take issue with in 6.55, the voice acting is the one area where I'm actually hopeful that it'll get better with time, practice, and feedback. Sorta saw it with all the prominent characters in 6.55. These are characters who don't get much screentime in general, let alone much voiced screentime. So I noticed Krile sounding really robotic and stilted, like the VA for her just needs to sorta warm up a bit. And I noticed it with Erenville as well. And with Wuk too. But I genuinely think this is an area where we'll see improvement over time if the VAs listen to feedback -- even if it's just from other VAs on staff.

The actual story writing leading into this, though....... idk, man. If we're going to be inserting ourselves into a steppe style tournament where the winner seizes control of a nation, I think it required more buildup than a .5 patch.

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Well I finished the MSQ and yeah nah, I was too optimistic I guess. In general across the english dub, there were so many moments where the actors needed to emote and just seemed like they were never given the direction to do that. Since Wuk's VA has more lines than the entire cast, it was extra noticeable with Wuk, especially at that one fight, if you know you know. Or that scene on the rooftop where she says she wants to carry her father's legacy, and the textbox is looking like a shouting manga panel but the VA's voice is barely raised at all, like... really?
One area where I will remain consistent -- my issue with DT continues to stem mainly from the awful writing. Even if the voice acting had been on point, it wouldn't have saved this expansion from its garbage pacing, its obsession with monotonous fetch quests, the way it felt content to drag even during moments of intense urgency (like the final zone, wtf was that) its nonsensical writing, and its insistence on pushing Wuk super hard and never giving the player a break from her as if to make up for the characterization she should have received in post-endwalker. I'm so glad it's over. Besides a couple of fun moments (yee-haw) it was such a slog. The only upside is the content has been on point. The dungeons, the trials, the music, all incredible. And thank god for that, or I'd quit this game right now.

I know im probably gonna be Forum banned for speaking ill against the sacred Password people, but still.
Things could have been better, Hiring an actual Woman to Voice Wuk Lamat and not an Amateur, and more care that the Character is not Lyse 2.0 but even worse, when stuck with it.

There were times when her voice acting was okay, and then there were times when it was bad, with like a handful of times where it was good, but never great. In turn I really don't think that equals a great performance and especially for someone who is so prominent as the driving force of the expansion. Things like this really kill the immersion especially when immersion should be at an all time high with the graphics/asset update. This is a weird one for SE to drop the ball on. Literally just hire a native Spanish speaking voice actor with good credentials. There are Spanish anime's out there with great and experienced VA's, I imagine it can't possibly be THAT hard.

And like no hate on the current VA Sena Bryer, because she IS experienced, but idk like go and listen to her other works and tell me if you felt like this was a good fit. I really feel like this just wasn't her role.

I actually thought the voice acting quality was a step up from previous expansions, but do concede that the mixing felt a little off in places. Maybe they changed the recording techniques or equipment or something. I also thought it was understood that some of SE's English direction just doesn't seem to fit sometimes. I personally think it's the body language on display that clashes, since east and west cultures are very different when it comes to that stuff, so some lines will inevitably miss their mark. Perhaps if they "localized" the cutscene rigging things might fit better, but that is a dumb idea just thinking about it.

I could definitely see a mixed reception to Zone 4's vocal choices. Definitely some Barry Manilow-sounding lallafel vibes there that play almost for laughs. It's grown on me but was jarring at first.

Overall I think Wuk Lamat did great; it was a pretty big gamble for SE to rest the bulk of the expansion on her shoulders but by the end of the MSQ I think she fit in just fine. Dragging the English VA for doing her job is hella cringe though and I hope the community pushes back hard against that behavior. A quick skim of the comments seems to show some agreement, so I'm thankful for that.